To be noticed as a professional in the construction industry, you need to be known in the industry in one way or another, especially if you are looking to be employed by a potential employer. We are going to look at the ways that can help you gain recognition and visibility in the construction industry.

The first thing you need to do is to change how you view yourself. Stop thinking about yourself as an unemployed construction worker. This affects the way you see yourself and even your mood becomes dull. You do not want to create a shaky first impression whenever you meet various people in the industry. This negative outlook will not help you with your job search. Pessimistic individuals are not fun to be around with. To be on the good side, envision yourself as a happy employee. People call it the art of visualization, others call it positive thinking, either way, the main takeaway is that you should do it until you are happily employed.

The second and most effective way to do it is by reading journals and publications related to the construction field. Examples of these publications include Journal of Light Construction, Engineering News Record, Home Builder News, and more. These magazines will help you acquire knowledge on the current trends in the construction industry. Subscribe to these publications and you will give yourself a great opportunity to be on the winning side of any job offer. Exposing yourself to the information flow helps you gain more power and understanding about the construction market. Construction employers hire the best minds and talents in the industry. You will have to shape yourself to become a top contender by reading widely and regularly updating yourself with the issues faced by the construction industry.

You need to do several things in your job if you want to achieve great results. When you read these publications, you will expand your mind in multiple dimensions. You will become creative and will be able to bring new ideas and introduce innovative ways of thinking.

Finally, joining a builder’s association is another great way to get noticed. Becoming a member of one of the builder associations that exist, you are going to associate with owners and managers of various building companies. Once you begin attending conferences and meetings on a regular basis, you will become familiar with the other members of the construction industry and the same goes for them – they start recognizing you. This process will help you to get noticed by people who can hire you.

Always remember that preparing yourself for the job market is something that needs a lot of proactivity. There are a lot of opportunities in the construction job market in US and Canada that are available for individuals who stand out from the crowd.

For example, if your business is called “H&C Construction,” and in another directory listing it is referred to as “Hamilton & Calvin Construction,” there is a chance that your customers or researchers will associate them as different companies and it will definitely not prove good for your business. Always stick to one title of your business and ensure that in each online directory you decide to be a part of, you have the same name across the board.

If you are a brand new construction business, you will have a huge advantage if the name of your business describes the geography and the services you offer. For example, “H&C Texas Construction Company.”this name is more relevant and descriptive of the services and the geographical location of your firm. Always consider keywords while finalizing the name of your business.

If your business needs a change of name, you will have to inform the DBA to change your name in the online directory. You will have to inform all the DBAs of all the online directories to update the listings so that all your details are updated. As much as you may benefit from a change in business name, you will lose rankings and reviews from the old name and you will have to consider this change carefully and prepare yourself for the consequences.

Links and citations

To take a better advantage of your online listing, you also need to have a good website. You will need to have a link that points to your website in the directory you are listed.

A high-quality website with great first impression will be the selling point for your business to your target market.

Citations are mentions of the business name on web pages that are not your own. This is accompanied by your phone number and your address. A citation of your website is normally placed on online business directories even though they are not linked to it.

Reviews and Ratings

Ratings and reviews are important to customers who are looking for the exact same services that you have to offer. A good review will make a customer either get to your website and look into the details about your services or even call you directly. Ratings and reviews are displayed in different ways across the listings. There is no question as to whether your reviews are important to the visibility of your business. The best thing about your reviews is that customers will make business decisions just by referring them.

Each online directory has its own set of rules when it comes to how reviews are placed and used.

Always note that when you have consistent data about your business across all the directory listings, it builds “trust” in the validity of your business.

Online directory listings are important to construction businesses that desire to be exposed to prospective clients in the US and Canada. You have come across directories at one point in your business engagements. There are hundreds of online resource directories for general contractors. They are the channels by which a new prospective client goes online in order to find your business. If you do a good citation, your business will definitely rank better.

There are two types of directory listings. Most are general directories that include local business with a search function on the platform to allow navigation through various businesses. Others are directories for specific category of enterprises. Two rules stand out in order for you to save money,

“List your business details in free directories”

“Never pay to list your business in a directory”

Take maximum advantage of the directories that offer free listings. This is because search engines do not discriminate between paid and free listings. The directories will eventually push you to pay for a listing, the offer they provide for the charge is that they will advance the listing of your business ahead of your competitors and allow you to have enhancement settings like photos and more content on your listings.

Most business searches start on the search engine while other business searches have separate listings along with a map and other details. Only a realistic local business appear in these listings.

If the directory appears, it is in general listings in search results that are organic. Here, Google prefers local businesses first but there are occurrences where directories are ranked first. For instance, if a search hits on Google, the directory listing might appear, but searchers will skip it since they are interested in a specific business and are not ready to start over, your business will be hard to find.

Free listing provides an opportunity for small-scale contractors to market their services to the world. An online directory can be accessed at any time to place an ad or browse through an ad to see what other competitors are doing.

Since there are a number of online construction directories that provide free listings, always ensure that you choose a trusted one. Online marketing has made life easier and businesses have become more visible with their presence on the internet.

Time is a valuable resource, and you cannot afford to waste it. Online directories help you to advertise your services to a wide audience at a very low cost, at most, it is free since there are no charges you are incurring. The best part is that, if your business is serving several construction clients in different business directories, you can save your time by uploading multiple listings at the same time.

You are able to access your listings from anywhere and it can be discovered both locally and internationally.

The construction sectorin the US and Canada has grown along with the private sector growing its investment footprint in both highway and commercial projects. Other investment projects like water & sewerage, public safety that have been steered by the local and federal government funds have been declining with time.

Let us look at three pertinent trends that are reshaping the market in 2017

1.The continuing market consolidation

The first trend will have to do with M&A. The volume of Mergers and Acquisitions in Engineering and Constructionhas dropped due to the rising uncertainty between buyers and sellers. Buyers have been noted to watch the oil prices and spending on infrastructure, as they hope to buy when the price reaches the bottom. Sellers, on the other hand, are trying to hold on until a rebound happens in the market. However, the long-term out lookers expect to see market consolidating and bouncing back for two solid reasons. The downturn that has occurred recently has impacted smaller firms negatively compared to the bigger firms. Multiple steps like cutting overhead costs and restructuring the price structure has left nothing unturned for many E&C (Engineering and Construction ) firms. Although the prices of oil has stabilised, E&C firms will not benefit for the next few years until when the capital will find its way to energy companies planning cyclesand be evident in the capital structures.

Two, larger companies are facing pressure from analysts, shareholders and other market participants to create more value. Consolidation is a great solution to a flat market. Companies will be seen to diversify in this time and stabilise their revenue streams to make acquisitions E&C firms expand in their services.

2.Competing E&C players from Korea, India and China will grow

Another major trend is the global growing of firms. Rapidly growing economies have focused on their own markets to build up cash positions and their own expertise. Now, as home markets growth increases, they are expanding outward to compete with global firms.

The expansion of these companies will require them to purchase assets and build capabilities. They will begin to bid for large projects in developed markets, adding a new layer of pressure and competition for established players.

The Chinese and Korean companies can go for mega projects where modular elements can be done at home and shipped to either the US or Canada which is the job site for assembly. This is due to their lower cost that attracts most buyers. Established players will win contracts but they will have lower margins than what they previously got.

3.Contracting will get tough

Management teams are getting new challenges as contracting is changing in many ways. Clients in private and public sectors and becoming sharp on the actual costs of projects as they look to benefit from the bidding competition. Eventually, they tend to demand LSTK contracts, over the next year, we expect the trend to continue.

LSTK contracts are becoming the fishing ground for top E&C firms, but many have not adapted completely. Some firms are soaking in the risk but not monitoring effectively the additional contingency costs.

If you want to make it easier for people in the USA and Canada to find your construction business online, you need to get listed in an online building trades directory or a business directory for the construction industry. These are good ways to build your websites authority since directory listings increase the back-links to your website. This back-link will make your website show in several search results which will translate to leads for your construction business. This now becomes a marketing strategy you should invest in. In order to get the best value for your money, ensure that you add your business to a relevant and quality construction directory that will improve your visibility on the internet. These three steps will help you expand your business online.

Find top directories for your construction business

First of all, look at the best online directories for construction business where you would like to submit your name. Bookmark them and place them in a spreadsheet. Tabulate about 20 of them before you start tracking each web directory. The topmost construction directories are mostly the ones that get a lot of traffic. Always remember to be specific in your search, start with the industry followed by the word directory- construction directory.

Another way to look at it is by finding relevant Directory Critic and check under applicable topics in the niche section of the list. Add these also to your spreadsheet and the relevant information presented.

Local construction business in US and Canada have a wide range of directory selection to choose from. Ensure that you choose the relevant directors to make the search industry specific.

Identify quality directories

After listing them down, narrow down into the list of possible directories that are worth looking into. The high-quality directories that are safe for your business and the ones who will assist your business to be visible. To separate the top directories from the rest, I suggest you ask yourself the following questions.

What is the traffic to that directory?

It is not easy to get the information about the traffic on the website, but you can compare one’s website traffic from another by looking up the Alexa rank for each construction directory. Visit http:///www.alexa.com/siteinfo/directory.com and change the directory.com to the domain for the specific construction directory you are looking at. Place this information in a spreadsheet and analyse the traffic on these sites.

What rules does the directory have the types of websites to be added?

You will benefit more from sites that are strict in terms of just accepting websites that are in the construction industry alone. Avoid any directory website that has no rules on the specific websites allowed.

What relevant listings do they have?

Browse through the directory listing of other sites to check if they are relevant. Some websites do not adhere to these rules.

Can your business get to the first page of the construction directory?

Being on the first page will boost your website clicks. The first page is the one that has the highest priority. Try to look for the directory where you can get your business name on the first page. This obviously means going for premium construction directories. There are websites that arrange names alphabetically, so if your name starts with A, you will definitely be on the first page if few companies have names starting with A. Alternatively, you are better off with a premium website.

The final step is listing to the directory that fits these criteria and your business marketing needs.

For those who are still skeptical and wondering why the online business directory is important, here are a few key pointers that will give you enough evidence why targeted business listing is essential for your business. When you place your business in a directory listing, you will indirectly convert a certain proportion of searches to possible leads and you will have to make sure that they find the right path to reach your website instead of going in the wrong direction.

An online media, like content marketing and social media, promotes your website through indirect advertisement. While using other marketing strategies, you are trying to promote your service indirectly, however, with directory listings you will be promoting your services directly. Always ensure that you select the right directory listing that can expose your services well.

Online directories will not only make your business visible, but it will also provide you with customer information that will prove beneficial for you. We are going to look at the advantages of how your business will benefit from a listing in an online construction directory.

Improving your website visibility

Business listings provide you with a specific way to improve your online visibility to spread awareness about your business. To take advantage of this opportunity, ensure that you list your business in more than one online directory for construction industry. The more mentions your business name has in these directories, the more visibility it will gain.

Customers are hooked onto the internet in the current time. Searching any information is done almost immediately. When your business is listed on an optimized search engine, it will improve the chances of your clients checking out your website.

Expand your business by reaching investors and new partners

You might not be aware, but when a company that is planning to execute a project and are looking for a construction firm that is located in a specific state in the US, they are actually looking for a potential partner who is qualified and is capable of executing the project. When it comes to meeting specific needs, the business will go straight to the online construction directories to search for a partner.

Bring twice the traffic to your website

An online directory has a two streamed effect to your website, indirect and direct traffic.

Direct traffic means that customers simply get to your website, which is a smaller number of people who might know about your website. The clients that your website will receive will be potential clients.

Indirect traffic means that clients who enter your website, have to access it via a search engine result. For instance, someone who is looking for ‘construction firm Canada’, types the phrase in search engine, and comes across an online construction directory that ranks high for those words. It will be then clicked upon and the person will be directed to your website.

When you have your business in an online directory, it will help your business to be easily accessible. Always ensure that your business has the right information, and will not mislead a visitor.

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